Stories for Tomorrow – Lived Today, Everywhere

An Urgent Warning

An Urgent Warning

Since
the climate doesn’t wait for politics to catch up, Marjan Minnesma
is changing the world herself. With her Urgenda foundation, she
presses ahead on the energy revolution.

Summer,
sun, sandy beaches—that is what most people associate with the
Dutch mudflat resort of Texel. But its 14,000 islanders want to gain
a reputation in another domain as well: By 2020, Texel is to be
carbon-neutral. In terms of utilities, Texel wants to become a
perfectly remote island, independent from mainland power and gas
lines.

“I’m
already there,” says Peter Bakker, proudly pointing to the
certificate on his hallway wall. "Texel's first energy-neutral
house.” The Dutchman got rid of his boiler and replaced it with
solar panels on the roof and a heat pump. He was also able to
disconnect from the gas line: “I, for one, am no longer dependent
on Putin!”

Dynamically
toward neutrality

And
he owes that to Marjan Minnesma. She is the director of Urgenda, a
foundation that is helping the mudflat island achieve its ambitious
goal. The tall, blonde, and highly dedicated woman is considered the
Netherlands’ foremost sustainability activist. In a first project
phase, she is encouraging 20 homeowners on Texel to remodel their
homes to become energy-neutral. “It costs 35,000 euros per house,”
she calculates. “That eliminates a monthly 180-euro utility bill,
which means that after 15 years the cost will be offset and you won’t
spend another dime on power and heating!”

Minnesma
made a name for herself with projects like this one. Three times
already the 49-year-old has given the alternative “sustainable
King’s speech” at the annual opening of the Dutch parliament in
September. And three times already she has been voted the number one
most sustainable Dutch person in a top-100 ranking by renowned daily
TROUW.
“For her unrivalled dynamism and innovative ideas,” the jury
explained.

Ambitious,
possible, inevitable

The
goal Minnesma set for herself is even more ambitious than the one for
the island of Texel. The mission of Urgenda, which she founded in
2007, is to make the Netherlands independent from fossil fuels within
20 years, switching the entire country to 100 per cent sustainable
energies.

“That
is possible—and we don’t have a choice, anyway!” the mother of
three states. She holds degrees not only in business administration
and law but also in philosophy, which she earned cum
laude. No one can turn a blind eye to
the epochal problem of global warming, she believes: “We are
barrelling toward an abyss. We have to slam on the brakes!”

Critical,
for our children’s sake

If
we fail to do this, our planet will soon become a very uncomfortable
place to live. Large parts of it are expected to become
uninhabitable, ravaged by floods or droughts, such as in southern
Spain or California. “It will bring war and conflict,” says
Minnesma, who, after completing her three degrees, initially worked
for research institutions and environmental organizations such as
Greenpeace. “Can we do this to our children?” What will happen to
them if we fail to act was put quite bluntly by IMF director
Christine Lagarde at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2013: Our
children will end up “roasted, toasted, fried, and grilled.”

We
don’t have much time left, Minnesma keeps on warning during the
roughly 200 lectures she gives each year. This is also reflected in
the name of her foundation: Urgenda – urgent. She is peeved by
apathetic citizens, reluctant executives, and hesitant
politicians—especially Dutch ones. To her aggravation, the
government in The Hague contents itself with raising the share of
national energy use that is sustainable from a pathetic 4 per cent
currently to 14 per cent by 2030. “Ridiculous! That puts us at the
tail end of Europe!”

Change
the world yourself

Minnesma
does not waste any time waiting on politics. Instead, she rolls up
her sleeves and leads by example: She brought the first electric cars
to the Netherlands, in a couple of shiploads from Norway, which she
sold to companies and local administrations who provided the
necessary charging stations. Under the slogan “We want sun,” she
imported 50,000 solar panels from China to equip schools, churches,
and private households. All without subsidies, without bridging
loans—because Dutch banks refused to issue them. The Chinese
suppliers, however, granted her an extended payment deadline, while
Dutch buyers advanced a part of the payment. Now she’s making sure
that more and more houses become energy-neutral. Not only on Texel.
Soon 100 urban households are to follow suit. “The negotiations are
under way,” says Minnesma, who gets by on a mere five hours of
sleep each night.

It
goes without saying that she has her own solar-panelled roof, drives
an electric car, feeds her family organic and sustainable fare, and
never uses air travel to get to her vacation destinations.

Doesn’t
she sometimes feel as if she were talking to a brick wall?

“Luckily,
more and more windows are opening in the wall!” she laughs,
pointing to a Loesje
poster in her office—a Dutch initiative that has garnered worldwide
attention with its thought-provoking slogan: “Change the World –
Get Started!”

About

Author

Kerstin Schweighöferis a freelance foreign correspondent for German media in the
Netherlands, reporting on the Benelux countries for the ARD public radio
stations, for Deutschlandfunk, FOCUS and art magazine, among others.